Inside The Huskies

Moore Ruled Out After Freak Injury Play; Fisch Says Time to Move On

The tight end was hurt when a Weber State player left the sideline to tackle him.

Dan Raley

Jedd Fisch does a postgame interview following a season-opening win over Weber State.
Jedd Fisch does a postgame interview following a season-opening win over Weber State. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Injured in a freak play in the season opener, University of Washington tight end Quentin Moore won't play in Saturday's game against Eastern Michigan at Husky Stadium, coach Jedd Fisch confirmed on Thursday.

Moore, a 6-foot-4, 257-pound senior, was hurt against Weber State when he caught a 14-yard pass in the second quarter of the 35-3 victory and was taken down by Wildcats linebacker Garrett Beck, who inexplicably raced off the sideline to make the tackle.

Beck apparently had left the field and realized his team was a man short, so he came back out to lower his head and hit Moore in the knee from the blindside, leaving the player on the ground in great pain and unable to walk off the field under his own power.

While much attention has been given to the unusual and costly play, which the Big Ten said in a statement amounted to an illegal substitution, the Husky coach seemed to dismiss it while indicating his team was left with no recourse.

"There's nothing to be done, nothing to be said," Fisch said. "It's unfortunate, for sure. I can't remember ever seeing that play before. Something like that has maybe happened over the years once or twice, No real reaction. Disappointed that it happened but we've got to move on."

Tight end Quentin Moore is helped off the field by his UW teammates.
Tight end Quentin Moore is helped off the field by his UW teammates. / Skylar Lin Visuals

However, Fisch did mention that he watched the play almost immediately on a new sideline tablet now in use and knew exactly what took place. Previously, he wouldn't have seen it until watching game film much later.

Earlier, the coach said Moore's injury wasn't season-ending but gave no timetable for when the sixth-year player might return.

In Moore's absence, the Huskies will turn to junior Keleki Latu, freshman Decker DeGraaf and walkl-on senior Owen Coutts to pull snaps at tight end against Eastern Michigan.

The 6-foot-7, 244-pound Latu is a Nevada transfer and the younger brother of standout UW, UCLA and NFL edge rusher Laiatu Latu. DeGraaf, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound newcomer, caught a 33-yard touchdown pass on his first college play against Weber State. Coutts made his college debut in last Saturday's game.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley

DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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